Conductor spacer

ABSTRACT

A spacer for spacing parallel conductors comprising bar members having one-half of a conductor clamp at each end thereof. The clamp halves at each end of the bar members comprise one clamp half facing outwardly therefrom and one clamp half facing inwardly toward the bar members. The bar members face each other along planar surfaces that extend between the clamp halves. The clamp halves are adapted to clamp a conductor at each of the bar members when the planar surfaces are disposed in face-to-face relationship and the clamp halves of one bar member oppose those of the other. A fastening means is employed to secure and maintain the clamp halves on the conductors when the bar members are disposed in mutual engagement along their planar surfaces.

United States Patent 191 Annas et a1.

52 us. (:1. 174/146, 24/81 cc 51 1111.0 ..H02g 7/12 58 Field of Search 174/40 R, 41, 146,

174/157, 160; 24/73 LA, 81 R, 81 A, 81 AA, 81 CC, 81 DM, 115 G, 132 CS, 136 R; 191/41; 248/61, 67.5; 339/246 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 971,683 10/1910 Markel 174/157 1,042,677 10/1912 l-lilty 174/157 1,141,316 6/1915 Cockrell 174/160 UX 2,899,160 8/1959 Sher et a1.... 174/146 x 2,915,580 12/1959 Gill et a1. 174/146 X 9/1962 Becker 174/146 X 3,088,993

5/1963 Matthysse et a1. 174/94 R X Primary Examiner-Laramie E. Askin Attorney-Elroy Strickland [5 7] ABSTRACT A spacer for spacing parallel conductors comprising bar members having one-half of a conductor clamp at each end thereof. The clamp halves at each end of the bar members comprise one clamp half facing outwardly therefrom and one clamp half facing inwardly toward the bar members. The bar members face each other along planar surfaces that extend between the clamp halves. The clamp halves are adapted to clamp a conductor at each of the bar members when the planar surfaces are disposed in face-to-face relationship and the clamp halves of one bar member oppose those of the other. A fastening means is employed to secure and maintain the clamp halves on the conductors when the bar members are disposed in mutual engagement along their planar surfaces.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to a structure for spacing electrical subconductors of a conductor bundle, and particularly to a spacer bar assembly that is economical to make and to attach to parallel lines.

When two or more overhead conductors are suspended in rather close proximity to each other between supports, it is necessary to ensure that they do not come into contact with each other. To this end spacing devices are fixed between the wires at intervals along their length.

Heretofore, the process of attaching such spacing devices has been somewhat time consuming and laborious, the devices employing conductor clamps with a plurality of fastening bolts required to be tightened on the conductors, or wire strands required to be wrapped around the conductors and the conductor engaging ends of the spacers.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a simply designed and economically produced spacer bar structure that is easily and rapidly clamped to the conductors to be spaced thereby without the use of clamping bolts, and which, when clamped to the conductors, can be easily determined if the spacer is in fact properly attached to the conductors. Briefly, the spacer bar of the invention comprises two substantially identical bar members having one-half of a conductor clamp at each end thereof, the clamp halves of the bar members facing each other when the members are disposed together along planar surfaces extending between the clamp halves. The clamp halves have recesses which hold relatively thick bushing halves, made of an elastomeric material, which firmly engage the conductor when the bar members are attached thereto. A conductor is clamped between the clamp halves at the ends of the bar members by relatively moving, i.e., sliding, the bar members along their planar surfaces in a direction that brings the clamp halves together about the conductors, the bar members being maintained in alignment by integral retention clips provided on the edges thereof. A single fastening means, such as a wedge-lock pin is provided for closing and firmly securing the opposed clamp halves on the conductors in a manner explained in detail hereinafter.

In addition, the resilient bushings in the recesses of the clamp halves allow articulation of the spacer, with relative, longitudinal movement of the conductors, without the need of further securing structures or hardware. Such bushings, and the articulation provided thereby, are desirable to preclude excessive impact and binding between the spacer and conductors, with resultant damage to both, that can occur with relative movement of the conductors.

THE DRAWING The invention, along with its advantages and objectives, will best be understood from consideration of the following detail description and the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a spacer constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the spacer of FIG. 1 shown attached to and spacing two conductors; and

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the spacer taken along lines 33 of FIG. 1.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawing, the spacer of the present invention is designated generally by numeral 10, and comprises an assembly of two elongated and essentially identical spacer bar members 12 and 14 having opposed, integral clamp halves 15 and 16 at the ends thereof. In the recesses of each clamp half 15 and 16 are secured bushing halves l7 and 18, of an essentially cylindrical bushing, made of a resilient, elastomer material suitable for engaging conductors l9 and 20 to be spaced by the assembly 10. The clamp and bushing halves l5 and 17 at one end of each of the bar members have conductor receiving recesses 21 that face outwardly from the bar members along their longitudinal axes while the clamp and bushing halves 16 and 18 at the other end of each of the bar members have conductor receiving recesses 22 that face inwardly toward the bar members along their longitudinal axes.

The structure of each of the bar members 12 and 14, as depicted in the Figures, includes a bar flange portion 23 extending longitudinally and diagonally between the clamp halves l5 and 16, the flange portion having a central, integral rib 24 also extending longitudinally between the clamp halves. The flange portion of each bar member provides each member with a relatively broad planar surface 25 that extends longitudinally and diagonally between the clamp halves.

As thus far described, the configuration of the bar members 12 and 14 is are essentially T-shaped in crosssection (see FIG. 3), with the diagonally extending planar surfaces 25 thereof sloping between opposed peripheries of the clamp half at each end thereof. The invention, however, is not limited to T-shaped bar members. The bar members may, for example, be channel or I-shaped, or any other configuration suitable for conductor spacing purposes. Similarly, the surfaces 25 of the bar members need not slope or slant between the clamp halves though such surfaces are particularly useful in the process of attaching the spacer 10 to the conductors 19 and 20, as explained in detail hereinafter.

Each of the bar members (12 and 14) is provided with integrally formed retention clips 26 which extend from the edges of the bar flange 23 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the planar surface 25, as best seen in the sectional view of FIG. 3, the retention clips being shown in elevation. Each of the retention clips includes an inwardly directed extension 27 at the ends thereof remote from the planar surface 25, as best seen in FIG. 3. With such an extension, the edges of the bar flange 23 of each bar member are provided with slotted or narrow portions 28 to accommodate the extensions 27 when the bar members are placed together for attaching to the conductors l9 and 20 in a manner presently to be explained.

Openings 34 and 35 are provided respectively in each of the bar members 12 and 14 at locations centrally of the rib and flange portions thereof, the openings extending through the members in a direction substantially perpendicular to the planar surfaces 25. The openings are adapted to receive a fastening means 36 to provide and maintain a clamping force on the conductors l9 and 20 via compression of the bushing halves l7 and 18 on the conductors. In FIG. 1, the fastening means 36 is shown as a wedge-lock pin, a wedgelock pin having an upper threaded portion and a lower unthreaded portion having a cone-shaped end or tip 37, as indicated in elevation in FIG. 1.

Types of fastening means other than a wedge-lock pin may be used in the present invention, though a wedge-lock pin has advantages over say a pin that is simply driven into the openings 34 and 35 by an external means and force. An advantage of the threaded pin 36, for example, is the fact that it is held captive and ready for use in the upper bar member 12 (in FIG. 1) by corresponding threads provided in the opening 34 of the upper bar members. The opening 35 in the lower bar member 14 is unthreaded to receive the unthreaded portion of the pin when the pin is simply turned and threaded through the opening 34.

To assemble the two bar members 12 and 14 on two spaced conductors, such as 19 and 20, the retention clips 26 and the narrow portions 28 of the bar member are first aligned so that the inwardly directed extensions 27 of the clips clear the bar flange 23 of the bar members as the bar members are brought together in face-to-face relationship along their planar surfaces 25. With the extensions of the retention clips clear of the bar flange 23, the two bar members are moved or slid relatively along their planar surfaces in a direction that moves the clamp halves 15 and 16 away from each other, the relative movement of the bar member being stopped to locate the retention clips opposite the wide portion of the bar flange, i.e., away from the narrow portions 28, and to locate the clamp halves a distance apart (see FIG. 1) sufficient to receive the width (diameter) of conductors 19 and 20. With the retention clips so located, the bar members are held in this position by manually threading the pin 36 into engagement with the lower bar member (in FIG. 1), the threaded bolt forcing the bar flanges 23 thereof into firm engagement with the extensions 27 of the retention clips 26 to prevent relative lateral and longitudinal movement of the bar members.

With the relative positions of bar members 12 and 14 fixed in the manner just described, the bar members are placed between the conductors and in the plane thereof such that a clamp half of each bar member is located on opposed sides of each conductor. The pin 36 is now loosened to release the bar members, and the bar members moved along their planar surfaces 25 until the clamp halves l and 16 close upon the conductors and the resilient bushing halves 17 and 18 engage the conductors. The cone-shaped end 37 of the pin forces further relative translation of the bar members when the bushing halves engage the conductors, the diameter of the bushings as formed by the bushing halves l7 and 18, being somewhat smaller than the diameter of the conductors. For this reason, with initial engagement of the conductors by the bushing halves, the transverse openings 34 and 35 in the bar members do not align to receive the full width of the pin 36. Rather, alignment is sufficient only to receive the tip or point of the cone 37 of the pin. When the point of the cone is started into the opening 35, the cone engages the edge of the opening to relatively move the bars the distance required to align the openings 34 and 35 and to firmly engage the conductors l9 and 20, thereby placing pin 36 in shear. The pin is forced into the opening 35 by threading the pin through the opening 34 in the upper bar member. In this manner, the bar member assembly is secured to the conductors to be spaced by the assembly. The

retention clips 26 serve to limit any relative lateral movement of the bars that might occur during the installation process as just described.

It can be appreciated as explained above that a wedge type pin other than the threaded pin 36 may be used to secure the spacer bars on the conductors 19 and 20, and that a suitable lever means may be employed to relatively move the bar members into firm engagement with the conductors in conjunction with a shear pin and in place of a wedge type pin.

The bar members 12 and 14 of the invention can be inexpensively cast to thereby provide the members with the conductor clamp halves l5 and 16 and retention clips 26 in a low cost manner, though the bar members with such clamp halves and retention clips may be made by other manufacturing techniques.

From the foregoing description it should now be apparent that a new and useful spacer bar structure has been disclosed which provides rapid installation and easy inspection thereof for insuring proper and firm attachment of the structure to the conductors spaced thereby. This is accomplished by two essentially identical bar members having opposed conductor clamp halves at each end thereof, and mutually engaged, planar surfaces that extend between the clamp halves to allow the bar members to slide relatively therealong to close the clamp halves on the conductors.

While the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, the claims appended hereto are intended to encompass all embodiments which fall within the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described our invention and certain embodiments thereof, we claim:

1. A spacer for use on parallel overhead electrical conductors comprising two elongated bar members having one-half of a conductor clamp at each end thereof, with one of said clamp halves at one end of each bar member facing outwardly therefrom along the longitudinal axis thereof, and the other of said clamp halves of each bar member facing inwardly toward the outwardly facing clamp halves of the other bar member, said clamp halves being adapted to clamp a conductor at each end of the spacer,

said bar members having planar surfaces located between the clamp halves thereof and in face-to-face relationship, and opposed edgesprovided with integral retention clips which prevent relative lateral movement of the members, and

means extending through one and into the other of said bar members for closing and securing said clamp halves on the conductors, with the planar surfaces of said bar members disposed in a face-toface relationship, by effecting longitudinal relative movement of said bar members along their planar surfaces. 2. The spacer of claim 1 in which the edges of the bar members are provided with slots for receiving the retention clips when the planar surfaces of the bar members are brought together in face-to-face relationship. 3. The spacer of claim I in which each clamp half contains one-half of a substantially cylindrical bushing made of a resilient material, the bushing halves facing in the direction of their associated clamp halves.

4. A spacer for use on parallel overhead electrical conductors comprising bers having one-half of a conductor clamp at each end thereof, with the clamp halves at each end facing each other along the longitudinal axes of said bar members, said bar members facing each other along sloping planar surfaces extending between the clamp halves thereof, and having opposed edges provided with retention clips which prevent ber oppose those of the other, and

means extending through one and into the other of said bar members for closing and securing said clamp halves on the electrical conductors, with the planar surfaces of said bar members disposed in face-to-face relationship, by effecting longitudinal relative movement of said bar members along their planar surfaces.

relative lateral movement of the bar members, said 5. The spacer of claim 4 in which the edges of the bar clamp halves being adapted to clamp a conductor 10 members are provided with slots for receiving the reat each end of the spacer when the planar surfaces tention clips when the planar surfaces of the bar memof said bar members are disposed in face-to-face bers are brought together in face-to-face relationship.

relationship and the clamp halves of one bar mem- 

1. A spacer for use on parallel overhead electrical conductors comprising two elongated bar members having one-half of a conductor clamp at each end thereof, with one of said clamp halves at one end of each bar member facing outwardly therefrom along the longitudinal axis thereof, and the other of said clamp halves of each bar member facing inwardly toward the outwardly facing clamp halves of the other bar member, said clamp halves being adapted to clamp a conductor at each end of the spacer, said bar members having planar surfaces located between the clamp halves thereof and in face-to-face relationship, and opposed edges provided with integral retention clips which prevent relative lateral movement of the members, and means extending through one and into the other of said bar members for closing and securing said clamp halves on the conductors, with the planar surfaces of said bar members disposed in a face-to-face relationship, by effecting longitudinal relative movement of said bar members along their planar surfaces.
 2. The spacer of claim 1 in which the edges of the bar members are provided with slots for receiving the retention clips when the planar surfaces of the bar members are brought together in face-to-face relationship.
 3. The spacer of claim 1 in which each clamp half contains one-half of a substantially cylindrical bushing made of a resilient material, the bushing halves facing in the direction of their associated clamp halves.
 4. A spacer for use on parallel overhead electrical conductors comprising two elongated and substantially identical bar members having one-half of a conductor clamp at each end thereof, with the clamp halves at each end facing each other along the longitudinal axes of said bar members, said bar members facing each other along sloping planar surfaces extending between the clamp halves thereof, and having opposed edges provided with retention clips which prevent relative lateral movement of the bar members, said clamp halves being adapted to clamp a conductor at each end of the spacer when the planar surfaces of said bar members are disposed in face-to-face relationship and the clamp halves of one bar member oppose those of the other, and means extending through one and into the other of said bar members for closing and securing said clamp halves on the electrical conductors, with the planar surfaces of said bar members disposed in face-to-face relationship, by effecting longitudinal relative movement of said bar members along their planar surfaces.
 5. The spacer of claim 4 in which the edges of the bar members are provided with slots for receiving the retention clips when the planar surfaces of the bar members are brought together in face-to-face relationship. 